i have hunted for 12 years and today was a sad day. I shot a doe with its fawn and broke its back. I put another arrow in its chest and went to the house for an hour to give the deer time. By the time i got back the deer was still crawling. This was a very disheartening sight. I reluctantly had to knock it out with a rock before i cut its throat because it was trying to nip at me. This has never happened to me in the past. When i gutted the deer both lungs were shot through. Cutting the throat was a very cruel BUT ethical way to dispatch this deer. I had two friends with me while i was doing this. They both refuse to bow hunt again ever!!!! I will cointinue to bow hunt because that is the nature of the beast. The only reason i am talking about this is because i want other hunters to be aware of evry possible situation dealing with wounded deer. Although it may make you feel differently about hunting, it shouldnt make you stop hunting altogether. Dispatch the animal as fast as possible. SOme grief and dispair maybe.

Slickhead Stalker RN

10-05-2009 12:19 PM

Wow. Two arrows and a double lung shot and a hour later she was still crawling? :confused: What a tough ol gal.

I have never been bow hunting and have never really had any problems with the deer that I have shot dying a slow death(I haven't really shot that many actually), but I probably would have knocked her out and finished her off before I went to the house for an hour. I am sure she would have appreciated that. She couldn't have been too much of a threat after that second arrow. Just a thought.

ronn

10-05-2009 12:47 PM

yea thats a tough one to deal with but it happens.

timberghost

10-05-2009 03:07 PM

If there's any bright side to the story I guess it is that you did find her and was able to harvest the deer. Some people shoot the deer and never find them. I hope your friends don't give up hunting because of this. Ask any hunter and I'm sure that you will have 1 or 2 horror stories from them.

stevenet99

10-06-2009 12:43 AM

Yea that's sad, I hope I don't run into that situation. This year is my first year bow hunting. I've hunted 8 years gun and have always had my deer go down within 80 yards and never needed a second shot. This year though bow hunting opening week I took my first shot at a smaller buck with my bow and hit it.

Found a blood trail 20 yards away that started, I fallowed it for an hour in a half through real thick brush and prickers until it came to an end. There was a big circle of blood and it just ended. My dad and I spent over 5 hours searching and searching, but never found the blood trail continue along with not finding the deer or my arrow. I was bummed for this was my first experience like this. We tried all we could. I thought that was bad but I hope that situation doesn't happen again or one like yours.

As Ted Nugent says, all you can do is try your best and make the best shot you can as well as try hard to find the deer and sometimes a weird situation will come up and you can't beat yourself up over it.

Good luck the rest of the season guys!

stairman

10-18-2009 06:32 PM

You gotta be tuff about it. The fawn will be fine without her if the season is open. Were all gonna die, some of us will suffer. A coyote ripping it apart isnt much better. I have threatened to quit bowhunting after shooting deer and not finding them but know buzzards, coyote, and other critters will feast on it even though I wont. Be glad you found it, thank the gods for the feast and backstrap boogie baby!

BruceBruce1959

10-18-2009 07:38 PM

Yes this is a very tough situation to end up in but it does happen.
Thanks for sharing the story with us.
And you're right I also think it's important for others to read about these situations instead of learning about them the hard way.

hunt NH

10-18-2009 07:44 PM

i know its illegal, but i would be verry tempted to just unhulster my .44mag and just put it out of its missery.

Hunting Man

10-18-2009 08:19 PM

If you hunt long enough bad things will happen and you just have to deal with it. Several years ago I spine shot two doe in the same year, had to waste a second arrow to quickly dispatch them. It happens.

hunt NH

10-18-2009 09:01 PM

this thread is seriously making me re evaluate wether or not i want to bow hunt any more. last year i acsidently hit a doe with my truck. it badly hurt the doe, but dident kill it and this was the one time i dident have my .44 on me. it would not let me neer it to kill it with my knife. iv never felt so helpless in my life. i had hurt this deer and could not put it out of its missery. i dont ever want to feel like that again.